Man overboard! Geraldo Rivera, former tabloid talk show host, Fox News contributor and friend of Donald Trump, has jumped off the president’s ship, but it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to throw him a lifesaver.
On Tuesday night (Jan. 12), Rivera sent out a mixed-message tweet that vaguely explained why he agrees with Republican House member Liz Cheney that Trump should be impeached for his role in last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. He muddled the sentiment by writing that Democrats were intent on “destroying him” from the moment he took office.
Rivera’s name quickly started trending after he posted his message. Twitter users refused to give him a pass for just now coming to the realization that Trump has been hurting America for years. Since last night, his post has been ratioed; it has received more comments than retweets and likes, which, in Twitter terms, is not a good sign that your post was well received in the Twitterverse.
Maybe in response to how his tweet was met with disdain, Rivera took to Twitter this morning (Jan. 13) and sent out a series of messages. This included one that called Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani “complicit” with the actions the pro-Trump mob took on Capitol Hill last week, which resulted in five deaths.
Rivera then released a two-minute video saying that last night he had a “eureka moment” when he realized his “loyalty toward Donald Trump—my old friend—was misplaced.” It seems like the video was going to try to clarify the original tweet, but all he did was read the tweets he sent out earlier Wednesday morning.
Despite Rivera’s best efforts, the mocking continued calling him “phony” and delivering an “empty apology.” Others said he was “too late” to be condemning Trump’s actions now, while some just made fun of his hair and famous moustache. Péinate, Geraldo!